Underground systems in place for new Coast CBD development

Stuart Cumming
Reporter
Stuart studied journalism at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba. He worked briefly at Central Queensland News and Warwick Daily News. He has worked as a reporter at The Chronicle since July 2009.

THE subterranean systems which will service the Coast's new CBD are nearly all in the ground in the project's central core.

A quarterly progress update delivered to Sunshine Coast Council regarding its Maroochydore development said civil construction at the nine-hectare centre was "progressing very well".

"In excess of 80 per cent of the underground infrastructure is now in place, including the Automated Waste Collection System," the report read.

The collection system will suck waste from apartments and commercial buildings through a vacuum system connected by underground pipes.

A long spell of dry weather was credited as a contributing factor to the construction progress.

The report, tendered at a special meeting last Thursday, also focused on some of the major roadworks being undertaken by the council for the CBD.

They included a $15.45 million project at Aerodrome Road where a new road will become a major link to the new CBD.

"These important connecting works for the project are also progressing well, with significant civil works being undertaken across the area to upgrade and tie-in underground infrastructure and required civil services," the report read.

It said two recently upgraded Maud Street junctions, at Dalby and Bungama streets, were set to become among the first access points for the new CBD from next year.

Discussion for a number of items to do with the new CBD were also closed off from the public.

They included strategic planning and development issues as well as an update on the Sunshine Coast Entertainment, Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Interest in potential CBD entertainment options piqued earlier this month when news broke of a Coast visit by international gaming industry executives.

That visit brought pledges from the Coast's State and Federal LNP representatives to fight against any potential casino development in the area.